User blog:Wingstrike/Why we have butane-powered battered sausage cannons
DISCLAIMER: The following article is written from a condescending point of view and may contain inappropriate language (much like the rest of the internet anyway, rendering this disclaimer somewhat moot). So a thought has crossed my mind recently, to be fair it has popped more than once but on previous times was promptly reduced to mulch by the rest of my brain going "Meh". A while ago (like, a serious WHILE ago) we had not one, but two partially developed semi-self-aware missing-link-esque creatures climb out of the primordial ooze and find the nearest computer, log on to the web and stumble onto the GFW. Instead of looking around and going; or They took one look at a mobile suit page To me, whom I consider of reasonable intelligence and deductive capabilities, seeing a page like UEG-001X Gundam Redemption (which uses pictures of the Gundam X Divider) prompts the following reaction: ;*UEG-001X Gundam Redemption :Text: Page about Gundam Redemption, neat machine with crapton of weapons and an extensive description :Image: Happens to use a picture of Gundam X Divider. To those who insist of explosively evacuating their opinion from both ends (and let's not forget, this is the internet, therefore the MUST be right), it looks more like this: ;*UEG-001X Gundam Redemption GUNDAM X DIVIDER RIP-OFF :Text: IRRELEVANT :Image: Gundam X Divider, "TOTES STOLEN FROM GUNDAM WIKI, N00B" There's an expression that commonly occurs throughout anime, consisting of a character staring at the situation with a single eyebrow twitching as if trying to drastically get far enough from this mess by desperately attempting to reach escape velocity. Not only is that usually the first thought that comes to mind which I see crap like this, but I'm surprisingly good at doing it myself. The second reaction typically goes along the lines of: Followed by a quick 5-minute attempt at trying to figure out how a person which such little brainpower can both blink and breathe at the same time without having their head explode from the strain. In a lot of cases on the GFW images are used which may originally be different machines (VEGM-210EP Élan uses Delta Gundam images), yet define themselves as different machines. Why am I sure it's different to Delta Gundam? Oh well maybe because THE WHOLE ARTICLE IS COMPLETELY ORIGINAL FROM MSN-001 DELTA GUNDAM'S. Clearly some individuals are plagued with the condition to scream "TL:DR LOLOLOLOL" upon seeing an article with an image on here, so I'd like to reinforce an unwritten (technically it's had to be pointed out at least twice, so that's debatable) rule on the GFW: "95% of the time, official artwork is used as a 'placeholder'. Whichever image used serves as the best representation the writer can find of their work, it does not mean that their creation is entirely identical to to it. Some decide to try and make it stand out a bit more by either recolouring, making "franken-images" or finding other artists who are willing to share their own creations." Personally I'm quite happy to see users tweak existing works to better suit their needs, it displays a added layer of creativity to their work. However, the point still remains, just because your artwork looks like whatever machine it originally was, doesn't mean it is. You'd think a giant block of text next to it would be a give-away... but no. "But Wing, why have you flipped out now of all times and written rant on it?" Good question audience. It boils down to a comment I saw on youtube the other day, made by someone I used to have some respect for, now see more as a ranting pillock who seems to feed off the tears of SEED/Destiny fans and has no concept of an indoor voice. WackyModder84, while perhaps stable most of the time (from what little I can bother watching as even on minimum volume he's still pretty loud) decided to lash out at Gundam Fanon Wiki in what I'd call a rather unprovoked attack. Gee, thanks Wacky. Need I remind you that most of us on the site have neither the skill/time/motivation to create artwork for something like the Arch Destiny? (Which for the record wasn't even his work, but mainly created by another guy he knows). Also, let's see now, would anyone be ok if I went around parading the Arch Destiny as my own work? Probably not I imagine. I'd say that does fall under the "Do-Not-Steal" rule. As for the "original" part, there are numerous rude hand gestures I pull at this comment. Fan-work does not imply it's completely new and original from the get go, some write expanded universes, some write crossovers and a few of us do bother to make original universes from scratch. Arch Destiny may as well be called Destiny II or Destiny R, considering it's functionally damn close to it predecessor (yay you removed a piece of tech that doesn't make sense, have a cookie, it still has the same combat role). Tricks like specialised hand plugs and overclocking aren't new, case in point Astray Gold Frame's hand plugs or less so, Unicorn's Device Driver, allowing both to use weapons of multiple factions. It's not like almost every hand held weapon in SEED, 00 and most of the UC timeline uses this feature in some form as well. And... what's it called again, that system that overclocks mobile suit performance, can't quite put my finger on it's name. Oh right *finger snap* Trans-Am (or FX Burst if you really insist). Other gimmicks like variable beam weapons are neat and all and *cough*F-91*cough*Advanced GN-X (sorry allergies). Also, a beam rifle that can pierce a solid shield with ABC coating, that's nice and all, last time I saw that was when the Perfect Strike took a Lohengrin to the face. And you've got a beam cannon that fires at twice the speed of the original with no recoil? And it has a positron cannon built into it even though even the Blue Frame's positron cannon was gigantic even while stored? No, that's not overpowered at all, nooo course not (I admire the fact that you put in a major Achilles heel for using for it, but a weapon capable equalling a Tannhäuser while being capable of reduced to the size of a beam cannon?). Never mind that a rotating barrel system is structurally asking for the recoil to tear the barrels off. Personal picking aside, it's not a bad machine. But it's not as new and balanced as it claims. What makes it stand out as it is? The artwork. Is it overpowered? I say yes. Is it original? About as original as Zabanya was to Cherudim. Does my point on it really matter in the end? Probably not. But kudos if you've stuck with me until this point; everyone in the Gundam Fanon Fiction is guilty of making an OP at some point. Do we like the idea of people going round claiming they thought of our ideas instead? Doubt it. The bit you're probably actually looking for If we were all amazing artists we'd be able to create OC art of any unit we could dream up, but we're not, so we can't, so we make do with alternatives. But the main point here is: does it matter what kind of image we use on the article if there is an in-depth description about the machine next to it? Heck no, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise Category:Blog posts